PROLOGUE
Pain. Icy metal biting into my wrists and ankles, a massive ring around my waist to hold me in even should I gnaw my own limbs off. Clattering of chains as I yank and tug at my bonds. Raucous voices, exclaiming in horrified wonder. Brilliant flashes of contained lightning, blinding me. I open my mouth and give shrieking howls at those who come too close and for a time it works. For a time they race backward, grins turning upside down with fear as their tiny eyes bulge.
But then they come back in greater numbers than before.
Pain! I roar as the hot metal stick prods against the base of my spine and I throw myself against the chains with renewed vigor, trying to twist and bite the man who holds the stick. The smoke from the pointed, burning end blurs his face but I know that he smiles. Harsh moonlight stabbing my eyes as the tent doors flap open and shut. More people. Damned pups clutching their mothers' hands, faces masks of wonder at the sight of me.
The sight of me...
The metal beneath my feet is slick with my sweat, my blood. The tears that fall when nobody sees me, rare as that is. My tail curls against the bars and rattles them. The man stabs me again with the stick and I howl, recoiling and drawing my tail close against my body. More lightning flashes. More eager and repulsed cries. I rattle my chains and scream again at the pups that get too close, watching their parents yank them backward and up into protective arms. Protective arms...my own arms are too sore from fighting. I let my legs relax and I fold slowly to the ground, pulling my limbs as close as the chains allow.
The crowd doesn't like this. They roar and beseech the man with the stick, and he touches the fire to the back of my neck. I scream, leap to my feet, and the dance begins all over again.
